Aileen Wuornos
The Florida Highway Killer Susan Lynn Blahovec Lee Blahovec Sandra Kretsch Cammie Marsh Greene Lori Kristine Grody |gender = Female |birth date = February 29, 1956 |birth place = Rochester, Michigan |death date = October 9, 2002 |death place = Starke, Florida |job = Prostitute |pathology = Serial Killer Robber |mo = Shooting |type = Organized lust |victims = 7 killed 2 assaulted 1 victimless robbery 1+ unspecified crimes |time= May 20, 1981 - November 19, 1990 |charges= 6 counts of murder 1 count of DUI 1 count of disorderly conduct 2 counts of assault 1 count of disturbing the peace 1 count of armed robbery 1 count of car theft 1 count of resisting arrest 1 count of obstruction of justice |sentence = Death |capture = January 9, 1991 |status = Deceased }} Aileen Carol Wuornos (born Aileen Carol Pittman), a.k.a. "The Florida Highway Killer", was an American serial killer and robber. Background Wuornos was born as Aileen Carol Pittman on February 29, 1956, in Rochester, Michigan. Her mother, Diane Pratt, married one Leo Dale Pittman when she was 15 years old. He was a child molester who spent most of his life in and out of prison before being strangled in jail in 1969. When Pratt filed for divorce after less than two years of marriage, she was given custody of Wuornos and her one-year-older brother, Keith. In 1960, she abandoned them and left them in the care of their maternal grandparents. During her adolescence years, Wuornos had several sex partners, including her brother. She later grew up a petty criminal and prostitute and was arrested for, among other things, drunk driving, disorderly conduct, firing a .22 gun from a vehicle, assault, armed robbery, grand theft auto and was also suspected of stealing a revolver with ammo. In 1976, she hitchhiked to Florida, where she lived for the rest of her life. In 1986, she met Tyria Moore, a hotel maid, at a Daytona gay bar and later moved in with her, supporting them with earnings from her prostitution. Murders, Arrest, and Execution On November 30, 1989, Wuornos committed her first murder and killed six more times over the course of a year. She was arrested on January 9, 1991, as a result of her being seen with Moore inside victim Peter Siems' car and her palm print was found on the interior. Also, the investigators found some of the victims' possessions in various pawnshops with Wuornos' fingerprints on them. Moore, having been tracked down in Pennsylvania, where she had been living with her sister, agreed to get a confession from her in exchange for immunity. During the trial, she claimed all of her victims were killed in self-defense when they tried to rape her. She later changed her confession, saying that only Richard Mallory, the first victim, had raped her and that the others "only began to start to". She was sentenced to death for six of the murders, the exception being her killing Peter Siems, as his body was never found. Upon receiving the verdict from the Jury, she said: “May your wife and children get raped, right in the ass.” On October 9, 2002, Wuornos was executed by means of lethal injection, aged 46. Her last words were: "Yes, I would just like to say I'm sailing with the rock, and I'll be back, like Independence Day with Jesus. June 6, like the movie. Big mother ship and all, I'll be back, I'll be back." Modus Operandi Wuornos' victims were males between the ages of 40-65. She would lure them with promises of sex and kill them by shooting them with a .22-caliber automatic revolver, sometimes undress them, and take personal possessions to sell. Known Victims *Unspecified dates: Numerous unspecified crimes, including drunk driving, disorderly conduct, firing a gun at a vehicle, assault, armed robbery, grand theft auto, and (possibly) gun theft *1976: **Unspecified location in Florida: Lewis Gratz Fell, 69 **July 14, Antrim County, Michigan: Unnamed bartender *May 20, 1981, Edgewater, Florida: A victimless armed robbery at a convenience store *November 30, 1989, Clearwater, Florida: Richard Mallory, 51 *1990: **May 31, Pasco County, Florida: Charles Carskaddon, 40 **June 1 , Citrus County, Florida: David Spears, 43 **June , Orange Springs, Florida: Peter Siems, 65 **July 30, Marion County, Florida: Troy Burress, 50 **September 11, Marion County, Florida: Charles "Dick" Humphreys, 56 **November 19, Dixie County, Florida: Walter Jeno Antonio, 62 On Criminal Minds *Intro: Wuornos is among the many criminals whose mugshot is shown during the show's intro. *Season Two **"Jones" - Wuornos was first mentioned in this episode, and seems to have been a source of inspiration for the episode's unsub, Sarah Danlin - Both were serial killers who were motivated by paranoia and a fear of being sexually assaulted (Danlin actually was), and used the promise of sex to lure their victims (all men) and kill them. *Season Four **"Pleasure Is My Business" - Wuornos was mentioned again by Prentiss and Hotch, who dismissed a comparison between her and the episode's unsub, Megan Kane, who may have been inspired by her - Both were serial killers who targeted men, were involved in prostitution (Kane was a call girl), shot them (Kane only did so once), and had a sexual element in their crimes (Wuornos would lure men with the promise of sex, while Kane actually did have sex with three of her victims before killing them). *Season Seven **"Profiling 101" - Wuornos wasn't directly mentioned, but her mugshot is seen during the BAU's montage during a lecture at a college Criminology class. *Novels **''Killer Profile'' - Wuornos was one of the killers mentioned in Max Ryan's book Serial Killers and Mass Murderers: Profiling Why They Kill. She was also one of the killers who Daniel Dryden copied, using her first name while disguised as a woman and copying her M.O.. Sources *Wikipedia's article on Wuornos *Radford University's summary of Wuornos's life *''The World's Most Evil Murderers'' (2006) *''The Killer Book of Serial Killers'' (2009) *Murderpedia's article on Wuornos *Crimes Lab - Truly disturbing Aileen Wuornos Quotes Category:Real Life Killers Category:Real World Criminals Category:Real People Category:Real Serial Killers Category:Incarcerated Real World Criminals Category:Executed Real World Criminals Category:Deceased Real World Criminals Category:Real Criminals Referenced in Season Two Category:Real Criminals Referenced in Season Four Category:Real Criminals Referenced in Season Seven Category:Real Life Female Killers Category:Real Life Robbers Category:Real Life Sociopaths